A few months back I read the first phone book sized collection of JBNM and yesterday I picked up the second one. Over 500 pages of lightning paced reversals and switcheroos later I’m here to tell you this is one of the greatest and most fun science fiction stories I’ve ever read.
In addition to the genuine satire about politics and early 1990s society, it is a ripping good yarn. With humor! And sex! And time travel! And Hellboy? And mutant powers that can turn women in Playboy models.
Please dig this stuff up and read it. I’m about to jump into (the current) Volume 3.
I know there are only, like, six or seven episodes, and they’re, like, twenty-five minutes each . . .but I do not know how the sustained vibe of just-about-to-pass-out-drunkenness can be maintained by the writers, directors, actors and editors. It’s something of a masterpiece.
What’s best about this show is that there aren’t that many BIG LAUGHS. It’s just one never ending collection of embarrassment and WTF.
Everyone ploughs through the Walking Dead in a mad rush – I’ve been takin’ ‘er real slow.
It definitely has a sustained nightmare quality. And also a repetitive quality that exists in the fables of some Eastern religions as well as Cardassian literature. I like it.
This (relatively) recent repackage is really just the first seven or so issues of the post-Crisis GLC on Earth. It’s kinda John Stewart’s show, though Hal is there (and there are cutaways to Guy on Malthus) though the bulk of the stories have to do with. . . Ch’p! And his evil foe Dr. Ub’x (who has many alter egos, including Truk – a truck.)
It’s very silly and perhaps even childish. . .until Arisia goes through the puberty machine and puts the moves on Hal. Should DC put out a volume 4 I’ll definitely pick it up – not so sure I’ll be chasing down the single issues. (I say this now. . . .)
Skews young, real young. And not kids in the Gifted and Talented program, either. This is real mass market bullshit for the common person’s illiterate kid. Which is a shame, because the design work on the birds is so fantastic (and so’s some of the music.)
I was happier when I only saw the trailer.
Essential viewing for modern American history buffs.
Recent unearthed footage that Swedish television took concerning the black power movement, it is 100% fascinating and watchable, but I don’t know if it serves a larger purpose other than “wow, look at this cool shit we found.” Still, as someone who’s interested, I was riveted.
Here’s one I didn’t get when it first came out. I remember sitting there in the theaters with my arms folded. I now recognize it not just for its craftiness, but as a terrific salute to all things spooky. And great songs, too!
For a movie that’s ostensibly about swinging’ dicks, it’s actually rather sweet. And compared to the recent spate of post-Knocked Up movies, actually rather clever, not so much reliant on shock.
The moment photographed above, Vince Vaughan’s “I’m the asshole in the place!” dance of bromantic celebration is (and I’m not just saying this) one of the most touching, truest moments on film. The rest of the movie is merely very good – but this moment is legendary.
I’m not going to read the “Season Eight” Deep Space Nine expansion novels. At least not this year. I can say, however, that this one (which is, unofficially, the first of two books in that continuing series) is quite good. Really.
I mean, think about it – what DS9 did best was present rich, full, fascinating characters, and Elim Garak was one of the best ones. So much of what made him interesting was his mysterious past and now it’s time to learn the whole story.
Yes, friends, its the Garak’s full backstory – everything you ever wanted to know about your favorite Cardassian tailor/intelligence operative. His childhood, schooling, early years with Obsidian Order and his eventual banishment to Terok Nor is all here – in surprisingly readable prose from . . .Andrew Robinson? The actor who played him? Hey, why not.
The framing device is a letter composed to Dr. Bashir from Cardassia Prime just after the end of the Dominion War, so if this was meant as a gateway drug to Season Eight, well, it just might have worked.
I didn’t even have to get all up-in-arms about this movie from a political perspective – I can safely dismiss it on story terms. It is boring, distant and phony. At the 1 hr 17 min mark is the first time anything is uttered that isn’t a platitude. Even the poster is a head fake, hinting an intrigue that is absent in the movie.
I give this a “D” because I can’t give anything that has so much Alexander Seddig in it a failing grade. A surprisingly bad film from the usually top-notch J.S.
A simple, perhaps even a little stupid, movie elevated by talented performers like Eisenberg, Ansari, McBride, Swardson and Pena. There’s some good riffing in this one – please read my full review at UGO.com.
Spectacular – and perhaps even more of a marvel because it is still good despite some really dumb parts.
Please read my full review over at UGO.com (and then go see the movie for yourself.)
